Lagos APC pushes for consensus as over 500 aspirants vie for 57 council seats - Daily Trust (2025)

Politics

Abdullateef Aliyu, Lagos

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos has advocated consensus as the preferred method for selecting candidates ahead of the July 12 local government elections, as more than 500 aspirants jostle for the 57 chairmanship seats in the state’s 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).

The party is set to conduct primaries for both chairmanship and 376 councillorship seats on Saturday. Over 1,000 aspirants are reportedly seeking councillorship positions.

At a stakeholders’ meeting held Wednesday at the party secretariat in Ikeja, party leaders including Deputy Governor Dr Obafemi Hamzat, House Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, and members of the National Assembly urged aspirants to embrace consensus to maintain internal harmony.

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“This has always been our practice, and I encourage us to support the consensus approach,” Hamzat said.

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State APC Chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, urged aspirants to prioritise party unity: “The President is from Lagos, and all eyes are on us. We must not disappoint him—we must make him proud and redeem our image.”

Chairman of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), Chief Tajudeen Olusi, said consensus was the most practical approach, given the high number of aspirants.

“In some wards, we have as many as 12 aspirants for a single councillorship seat. We must take things easy, talk to ourselves and concede,” he said.

Chairman of the party’s Electoral Committee, Babatunde Ogala (SAN), said indirect primaries would be used where consensus fails, adding that the chairmanship primaries would hold at the state secretariat while councillorship primaries would take place in wards.

Council chairman slumps during meeting

Meanwhile, the meeting was brought to an abrupt end following a health scare involving the Chairman of Bariga LCDA, Hon. Kolade Alabi, who slumped shortly after addressing the gathering. He was immediately revived and taken to the hospital.

Alabi, who also chairs Conference 57 representing all council bosses in Lagos, collapsed at the podium. A short video later circulated on X showed him being assisted out of the venue.

Though the cause of the collapse was not officially disclosed, party sources attributed it to heat and fatigue, dismissing suggestions of violence or foul play.

“He slumped due to the heat at the venue, but thank God he was revived immediately. The meeting was peaceful. It could happen to anyone,” a source said.

Alabi, a former National President of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), was reported to have fully recovered.

Despite the incident, party officials said preparations for the primaries would proceed as scheduled, with consensus expected to ease tensions and reduce the number of contested positions.

References

https://dailytrust.com/lagos-apc-pushes-for-consensus-as-over-500-aspirants-vie-for-57-council-seats/